On the first day of the 2013 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers decided that Cordarrelle Patterson was the man they wanted to replace Greg Jennings. At 6'3, he cannot be compared to the ex Packer, but he certainly has the ability to be just as good an possibly exceed what Jennings did in a Green Bay uniform.

General Manager, Super Packer was over the moon to have landed the youngster and had this to say about the selection, "Going into the draft, we had not specified wide receiver as one of our top needs, but with Cordarrelle still on the board, it was almost impossible to pass on him. We believe he is going to have a great future as a Green Bay Packer and we can't wait to bring him in."

For obvious reasons, Patterson was also delighted with being drafted by the Packers. "It is a great organisation and it 's going to be a pleasure playing there. Getting to play with one of the best quarterbacks in the league is going to be a great honor. I can't wait to get started." however, the ex Vol was quick to dismiss the talk of him replacing Greg Jennings. "Obviously Greg is a great player, but I don't think it is on me to be replacing him. I'm just going to work hard and do my job and hopefully reap the benefits."

Going into the draft, the Packers were not expected to grab a receiver in the first round, with bigger needs looking as though they would be filled early on. After releasing Jeff Saturday, many thought the Packers would look to draft a Center to replace him and with Alabama offensive lineman, Barrett Jones, still on the board when the Packers picked, there was surprise when the Packers passed on him. However, they are known for being true to their board and that is exactly what they did today.

While Mike Tice has done wonders turning the Chicago offensive line into a serviceable unit, most draft experts still believed that would be the position the Bears front office would address in the first round. But General Manager Phil Emery pulled a shocker, selecting Mississippi State cornerback Johnathan Banks.

In the days leading up to the draft, Emery expressed concerns about Texas A&M tackle Jeff Matthews' ability to transition to the left side, the most pressing need along the line. Most believed this was just a smoke screen, but in the end, it was the absolute truth.

"Matthews? He wasn't even on our minds." Emery remarked. "It was a tough decision between Banks and the Eifert kid from Notre Dame. But with the clock ticking down, we had to take the guy at the top of our board."

When asked if he worried about the pick backfiring, Emery replied, "We play against Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, and Aaron Rodger four times a year. You can never have enough defensive backs."

Fans in the auditorium were less enthused, as the boos drowned out the applause. Now they must hope Emery can persuade one of the top free agent tackles to the Windy City.

Brilliant letting one of Scott Pioli's henchmen have his own team to ruin. One of the premier GM jobs in the NFL and it gets handed to a stupid **** who makes three facepalm moves for every good one. Awesome. Just like handing a new Mercedes to a 16 year old girl who's already been in three wrecks.

Of the losses, Woodhead, Branch, and Arrington were considered the three biggest contributors; Woodhead was ultimately made expendable thanks to New England's stable of young talent at running back, Branch is expected to retire, and Arrington's struggles in 2012 pushed the Patriots towards the other cornerbacks on roster: Devin McCourty, Sterling Moore, Alfonzo Dennard, Ras-I Dowling, and Marquice Cole. The moves leave New England with 52 players on roster heading into the 2013 NFL Draft, where they hold five draft picks.

Anticipate more releases in the days to come as the Patriots attempt to clear roster space for their incoming rookies.

Cardinals Draft Potential Franchise Signal Caller, Cut Ties With KolbAfter a brief discussion GM Rod Graves and company had decided that it was time to move on from the now former Cardinals' QB and select what many believe to be the future of the franchise, Volunteers quarterback Tyler Bray. While the Volunteers struggled this season in SEC play, Tennessee's offense was hardly the problem. Tyler Bray finished the season with over 4000 yards passing and 30 touchdowns. Many believe that the QB will need time to develop due to his poor footwork and 3/4 release but no one doubts that this QB has all the tools necessary to one day be a franchise signal caller in the NFL. The Cardinals save a total of $21,000,000 over two years by releasing Kevin Kolb prior to July 1st.

-The Steelers drafted Texas DE Jackson Jeffcoat in the first round last night after a disappointing season along the defensive front. Jeffocat, who figures to move to OLB in the pros, was the second highest player on their board. The Steelers coaches love his athletic nature and the way he gets after the quarterback. With former All Pro LB James Harrison on the cusp of being released, Jeffcoat was the right player to fill in his void after Jason Worilds and Chris Carter failed to live up to expectations. The Steelers have a few more picks and are expected to pick more defensive help.

The Eagles selection of Notre Dame TE, Tyler Eifert left many puzzled and questioning the pick. With Bent Celek enjoying a breakout year last season it seemed like the TE position was locked up for the foreseeable future. Andy Reid and co. were quick to point out however that the Eagles finished 25th in Red Zone offense last season and that Eifert 6'5 frame might be just the cure for what ails them. While at Notre Dame Eifert showed exceptional body control and concentration that made him a deadly target in short range scenarios. So what does this mean for Celek? "Brent's still our #1 guy. We'll be running a lot of 2 TE packages, especially close to the goal line this year. We've seen the success New England has had the past couple seasons running a similar system and until defenses can figure out an answer for that type of mismatch we will try our best to exploit it. When a guy's sitting there and he's so much higher on your board than anyone else, it's hard to pass up. It's just a bonus that this pick happens to fill somewhat of a need as well." Philadelphia's only other pass catcher other than Celek over 6 feet, Riley Cooper, missed most of last season with a broken arm. Many pointed to turnovers as the Eagles biggest problem last season but Reid was quick to point out the team's red zone deficiencies noting Philadelphia hasn't had a red zone offense in the top half of the league since 2006. With the selection of Eifert, the Eagles hope they have found the solution to that problem.

Jon Gruden has promoted Bill Callahan from Assistant HC/Offensive Line Coach to full time Offensive Coordinator and Rob Ryan will maintain his position as Defensive Coordinator.

Quote:

"I know Bill from our days in Oakland where he served as my Offensive Coordinator then. We had a lot of success there and to be honest, the fact that he was already here in Dallas was one of the many reasons why I felt excited about taking this job. He's gonna put those headsets back on while on the sidelines again and we're gonna implement the West Coast Offense fullblown. I think that system suits the personnel on this team like a glove! Romo is a mobile QB in the pocket who throws with accuracy, especially on the run. We have WRs who are physical and can rip up the field for nice YAC off short passes, and we have the ability to go deep when we want to. Witten's game is tailor made for the WCO, and DeMarco Murray is going to love our running schemes. I'm STOKED just thinking about it".

Quote:

"If there's one coach in the entire league that shares the passion for football that I have, it's Rob Ryan. I just LOVE his rage and passion for the game. He's one heck of a defensive coordinator and we're gonna work well together. I've always admired him from afar and he's going take this defense to another level with the drafting of LSU Safety Eric Reid. We're not done on that side of the ball yet either, so hang on to your horses!"

6. Star Lotuleilei, Tampa Bay: Can you label a top 10 pick a steal? If so I think that's exactly what the Bucs got here. Lotuleilei may very well end up as the best player in this draft. He has the ability to be a game changing DT in the mold of a Haloti Ngata.

13. Manti Te'o, Detroit: The Lions most pressing need coming in seemed to be CB but with no true stud corner in this draft they opted to fill another position of need at LB. Te'o came back to school this year after some thought he might declare and he was the anchor of one of the country's top defenses. A leader both on and off the field, Te'o is exactly what the Lions need on the defensive side of the ball.

22. Robert Woods, Minnesota:
Many thought Minnesota might be looking to boost their secondary at this spot with lot's of options still on the board. Despite skepticism from the media, their defense was able to hold up this year which gave them the luxury of giving young gun Christian Ponder an extra weapon to work with. Last year Ponder seemed to establish himself as a legitimate starter in the league and despite having many pieces in place on the offensive side of the ball, the Vikings still seemed to lack a true #1 threat. They were hoping Jerome Simpson would be that guy but that never panned out and this selection should open up even more room for Pro Bowler Percy Harvin to work with(not that he needs much room at all). The Vikings now have all the key pieces in place on offense so look for them to address the other side of the ball in the later rounds.

Worst Picks

24. Tyler Bray, Arizona: I haven't been the biggest fan of Kevin Kolb in the past but this year he did a good job of protecting the ball and letting Arizona's defense do what they do best. Bray is a player I felt could have benefited from returning for his senior season at Tennessee. When you watch him it's apparent he has the arm that will allow him to succeed at the next level but he has a lot of technical issues to work out and he struggled with decision making at times. I think Bray's situation is similar to what we saw with another highly touted gun slinger a few years ago in Ryan Mallett. I feel the best situation for Bray, similar to Mallett, is to go somewhere where he can sit for 2-3 years in a stable situation and work on those areas he needs to improve in. If John Skelton can't handle the starting duties, Bbray could be thrown into the fire early on which won't help his long term development.

20. Cordarelle Patterson, Green Bay: Tennessee fans are going to hate me after this one but this was another pick I had a hard time wrapping my head around. Patterson is only one year removed from JUCO and is still very raw.Like Bray, I feel like he also could have benefited from one more year at school. When you watch him on tape it becomes clear that he is a threat to score every time he touches the ball and I'm a big fan of his. I'm not so sure Robert Woods wouldn't have been the better selection at this spot though.

29. Dion Jordan, Baltimore: It isn't often you see Ozzie Newsome go off the board so early so this pick was a bit of a head scratcher to me. Jordan has some nice physical tools but I'm not so sure Baltimore couldnt' have traded down a little further and picked him up. With guys like Corey Lemonier still on the board this pick just becomes even more puzzling for me but I'll have to go back and watch a little more tape on this guy to try and see what the Ravens saw. I had him graded as a 2nd-3rd rounder.

The Kansas City Chiefs during a meeting with the media discussed their first two selections of QB Tyler Wilson & CB David Amerson.

On Wilson:
"It was a tossup between Barkley & Wilson," Chiefs GM T-Rich49 said "But Wilson going up against those strong SEC defenses was the deciding factor. We feel Wilson can come in and start right away for us.and with the weapons we have around him should have success early on in his NFL career."

On Amerson:
"David is a guy we had rated highly on our boards.We know his production this year is not there but when a talent like him falls to the second round it's hard to ignore.In a league that is more about the passing game you can never have enough quality DB's and we certainly like our DB group especially with the addition of Amerson."

Miami's main goal entering the off-season was to retain and improve Ryan Tannehill's weapons. The first step was bringing back Hartline and Bush. Next, with their first pick, 9th overall, Miami went out and got him another receiving option, drafting wide receiver Keenan Allen from the University of California. Allen is widely considered the top wide receiver in the class and appears to be a great fit in this Dolphins offense. Allen has sure hands, something Miami noted separated him from Robert Woods of USC, and is a crisp route runner. Allen has everything you want physically, with great size, speed, and athletic ability and can take the top off a defense. Expect Allen to compete with Brian Hartline and Davone Bess for a starting spot.

In the second round, Miami used their first pick on defensive end William Gholston from Michigan State. After allowing Randy Starks and Tony McDaniel to leave in free agency, there were questions as to who would fill the void left by Starks. The selection of Gholston made the plan a little more clear. Jared Odrick, 2010 first round pick, started last season at defensive end opposite Cameron Wake but he's expected to move back to his more natural position of defensive tackle. Gholston is expected to compete with 2012 4th round pick Olivier Vernon for the starting defensive end position. Miami is hoping that whoever wins the job can produce more sacks, as Miami failed to produce any pass rush opposite Cameron Wake. Gholston had a down year that had him sliding down boards but he possesses great size and Miami feels that he is already a strong run defender and hope he can finally fill the hole opposite Wake.

With the next pick, acquired from Indianapolis for Vontae Davis, Miami GM Jeff Ireland decided to take Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert. Richard Marshall had an injury plagued first season as a Dolphin and while Nolan Carroll has made significant strides, Miami had to move Jimmy Wilson back to corner last year to improve the depth and they would like to get enough CB depth to allow Wilson to make the full-time move to safety, as they still believe he can be a long-term solution at free safety.

In other news, the Dolphins decided to bring back free safety Chris Clemons on a two year deal after they failed to find a starter at the spot in the first two rounds. Clemons is a solid but unspectacular player and is expected to compete with Wilson for the starting job once again. Both players are excellent on special teams.

After surprising many with their first pick in the 2013 NFL draft, by selecting underclassman receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson, the Green Bay Packers went into day two with several holes to fill. It was no surprise when the Packers drafted Georgia safety, Bacarri Rambo, with the 49th pick in the draft, the one the received in the Finley trade. Free safety was seen as a need by General Manager, Super Packer and so they pounced on the opportunity to land the talented defender.

3 picks later, in another huge shock, Green Bay selected athletic defensive lineman, Ezekiel Ansah. Nicknamed "Ziggy" the big man certainly has the ability and production to become an NFL star, however many question how he will fit into Dom Capers 3-4 defense. At 270 pounds, it would appear that he is too big to play outside linebacker and too small to play defensive tackle, although this was apparently not an issue with Capers himself. Another reason this pick will be heavily questioned is only a year ago the Packers drafted defensive end, Nick Perry and so getting another pass rusher was not seen as a priority.

DETROIT - The Lions had a mantre going into this off season defense defense defense. After three years of diminishing returns from the secondary The Lions thought this would be a major focal point in draft day moves. The Lions started the day going with what was presumably classic Detroit Lions draft day philosophy take the best player available and that is what they did picking up Notre Dame's Manti Te'o to secure the LB position the weather he or incumbent ILB Stephen Tulloch will be manning the SLB position is still in question the fact of the matter is that this truly solidifies the front seven. The Lions then traded for a pair of corners in former pro bowl CB Mike Jenkins and William G*ay coach Jim Schwartz said that there would be open competition for starting CB spots. When asked about the decision to trade for Jenkins GM Martin Mayhew stated. Jenkins is really what we like in a CB from a personality standpoint a jilted CB who wishes to prove himself as a starter in the NFL he and G*ay will compete with Houston and Bentley for time. In the second the they drafted Robert Lester a talented safety from Alabama who is slotted to start right away across from Lewis Delmas.

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Two rounds are in the books now and there have been quite a few interesting developments to discuss.

1.) Only one running back has been chosen so far.
- In recent years, the argument that NFL teams have been devaluing the RB position has been prevalent when discussing RB prospects in the draft. It's no secret that the NFL has become a passing league, and the 2013 draft has so far shaped up to support that argument.

Only Marcus Lattimore, who went at #21 to the Broncos, has been selected. Lattimore is an elite talent at the position and will be able to make an instant impact for the Broncos offense next year.

After that, all of the other running backs are still waiting. Big Le'Veon Bell from Michigan State and Clemson speedster Andre Ellington are the next best available and were projected to go sometime in the 2nd round. Stanford's Stepfan Taylor is the best all-around back still available and should go by the end of the 3rd round here. Former National Championship MVP Michael Dyer is another intriguing prospect who was out of football last season.

2.) Tyler Bray's fall
- It was an unusual year at the top of the NFL Draft for QB prospects: the first three off the board (Geno Smith, Tyler Wilson, and Matt Barkley) were all seniors. The only underclassman QB to declare was Tyler Bray of Tennessee. Bray has all of the physical tools you look for, but is considered quite raw and in need of some development before he can contribute at the NFL level.

Still, it was surprising to see him fall into the 20s where he was finally snatched by Arizona at #24. Arizona struggled offensively last season but made the playoffs by virtue of their great defense. Many will tell you that Bray would be best served by sitting for a year, but as well know, that very rarely happens in the NFL anymore. Unless Bray plays extremely poorly next preseason (or an Arizona incumbent QB plays extremely well,) look for Bray to be the Arizona starting QB week 1 next season. In fact...

3.) Expect more rookie starting QBs next season.
- Until this past season, no more than two rookie QBs had ever started in week 1 of the NFL regular season. Last year there were five.

I expect that number to be approached again next season, with all four of the QBs selected in the first round having a great chance to start. Geno Smith has no real competition in Jacksonville, so I don't expect anything more than a "competition" in name only with Chad Henne before he's named starter in the preseason. The same goes for Tyler Wilson in Kansas City where none of the incumbent QBs should prove a threat to the starting job. And as I already discussed, Tyler Bray very well may be Arizona's starting QB in week 1 as well.

That leaves Matt Barkley in Oakland where veteran Carson Palmer remains on the team. Palmer will be the stiffest competition for any of the rookie QBs, but even then, I would not be surprised to see Barkley starting in week 1 as well.

4.) Florida underclassmen still waiting to hear their names.

Five Florida underclassmen declared for the draft this year, and, through two rounds, four are still waiting to be selected.

Matt Elam was selected at #56 by the Broncos, leaving TE Jordan Reed (3 other TEs have been selected,) DTs Dominique Easly and Sharrif Floyd (6 other DTs have been selected,) and LB Jelani Jenkins (2 other LBs have been selected) all waiting.

Rumors Wannstedt out?
Most people wanted to know why the DC was not in the draft room the past few days helping the Bills makes the selections of DE Bjoern Werner and LB Sean Porter. Well looks like GM Buddy Nix and HC Chan Gailey will talk to the press tomorrow morning. Word is Wannstedt will be let go and Bills will hire Texas A&M DC Mark Snyder.
-Chris Brown buffalobills.com

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick emerged from the Patriots' war room for a few minutes today in order to share his thoughts on the 2013 NFL Draft's first two rounds. Excerpts from his press conference are below:

On what motivated him to draft Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones in the first round:

Obviously I have a very strong relationship with [Alabama head coach] Nick [Saban]; we've drafted a couple of guys from there over the past few years: Dont'a Hightower, Brandon Deaderick. Jones is a smart guy, he's big, he's strong, played all along the line for them. On tape you can see him doing a lot of good things: moving around, making blocks at the next level. We felt comfortable with what we've seen from him, the medical, workouts, all that.

On where Jones will play and what the selection means for the rest of New England's offensive line:

We've got a lot of talent along the offensive line: [Logan] Mankins, [Nate] Solder, [Sebastian] Vollmer. We're just going to see where [Jones] fits in on the inside; obviously [offensive line coach] Dante [Scarnecchia] will have a lot of input there, whether it's [Ryan] Wendell, [Dan] Connolly, or Jones starting at those other interior spots. There should be some strong competition for those positions; we think it's a good problem to have.

On trading down in the second round and selecting Florida State defensive end Cornellius Carradine:

We just got an offer from San Francisco that we thought was a good value at that point; move down a few spots and add another fourth rounder. We started off a little bit short on picks this year [trading away fifth-and-sixth-round choices in deals for WR Chad Johnson and DT Albert Haynesworth]. We really like Carradine; reminded us a little bit of Chandler [Jones] physically, he's athletic, was able to get after the passer the past two years.

On the selection of Arkansas wide receiver Cobi Hamilton at the end of the third round:

[Hamilton] was more of a rotational player last year because of their other guys: [Jairus] Wright, [Greg] Childs, [Joe] Adams; this year he really stepped up and had a good season. He's the biggest wide receiver we've got right now, ran well, smart, competes for the ball. We thought the offense [Arkansas head coach] John [L. Smith] ran last year gave him a lot of opportunities to run pro-style routes and make some plays.

On whether or not New England will make any more moves over the rest of the draft:

I don't know. We're always looking for ways to get better, whether that's by staying put, trading around, getting some picks for next year. Obviously we've made some moves recently for veterans: we traded for [Deion] Branch, [Wes] Welker, Tracy [White], [Greg] Salas. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. All I can say is that we'll be looking into every possibility, trying to keep in touch with the other teams out there.

With the addition of RB Andre Ellington from the University of Clemson, the Dallas Cowboys surprisingly have new hopes to finding a capable complement to DeMarco Murray. Former 1st round pick out of Arkansas, Felix Jones had a hot start to his career, but injuries have become an all too common reoccurrance with him and he never lived up to the expectations.

Quote:

"Ellington is an EXPLOSIVE game breaker! I am just thrilled that we were able to land him in the 3rd round with our pick from Detroit. We were contemplating on taking him with our first 3rd rounder, but felt the kid from Alabama, Jesse Williams wouldn't have lasted on the board too much longer. We're happy it worked out. Andre is going to be put to work early and often as we try our darnedest to keep defenses honest. Together with DeMarco Murray we're hoping to have one heck of a Thunder and Lightning duo in Dallas," said new Head Coach Jon Gruden.

When asked about the Cowboys new defensive draft picks made today, Rob Ryan emphatically said, "I had good dreams last night, but not THIS GOOD! I wanted DOGS man...Mean, Nasty, Relentless Dogs that play my style of football... and I got 'em!" Indeed it does look like there's plenty to be excited about regarding this year's draft picks.

On Eric Reid:

Quote:

We improved as a defense last year, but we simply did not create enough turnovers as I wanted...at least not enough to keep up with Tony. Ha ha ha. Reid is a guy who I have high hopes for to help us in that department. He's a playmaker man! He's gonna give me full confidence to call anything in my playbook cause I know if we send the blitz that he'll cover for us deep. Next season we will dominate our will on opponents! ...and those are MY words.

On Jesse Williams:

Quote:

"I'm trying not to show my real excitement because you never really know until you really know, ya know?... but the guys we got are absolute MONSTERS. That Bama kid, Williams is a complete hoss. Everyone knows Bama's defense has been one of the top defenses in college football, and it starts up front for them. Deep in the trenches. That's where you'll find Jesse Williams wreaking havoc making things work for the rest of the D. We're real happy to have him."

On John Simon:

Quote:

"If you ever hear Urban Meyer talk about this kid, you come away hoping he last to you in Round 1! I know the scouts look at his measurables and that's the reason why he was still available for us, but I know his coaches just LOVED him and all of us coaches are the same. Give me the guy who gives me everything he's got over the guy with the fancy measurables. Simon pushes everyone around him to be great because he plays each snap like it's his last. He's the definition of relentless and his motor never stops. He may not fit at one exact position, but we're gonna play him at MANY different positions because he can. We can play him anywhere in our front 7...he's that nasty."
"

Urban Meyer quote:

Quote:

Are we doing enough for our team? That guy (Simon) — what he just did in there … am I doing enough? When I say I — as our coaching staff — are we doing enough?” Meyer asked. “Are we doing as much as he’s doing?”

Kansas City Chiefs GM T-Rich49 held an press conferance to discuss all the selections made in the 2013 NFL Draft.

On QB Tyler Wilson:
"Tyler was a guy we'd liked going back to last year.Strong arm a guy who has everything you want in a Franchise QB.Going against those tough SEC defenses should help prepare him for what he'll see at the NFL level.I'd be stunned if he's not starting opening day."

On CB/S David Amerson:

"David is another guy we liked for sometime.We feel he's better suited to play S as opposed to CB but still adds an immense talent to our DB group.Kendrick Lewis's inability to stay healthy is another reason we're sticking Amerson at S."

On LB Shayne Skov:

"Shayne is an ideal fit to line up opposite Derrick Johnson.While we appreciate what Joban Belcher has done we feel his lack of speed hurts us in coverage.We feel putting Skov next to DJ give us a dynamic young LB core for many years to come."

On RB Le'Veon Bell

"Now I now RB was'nt really a need BUT this was simply a case of the value being to good to pass on.Bell brings that thumper to compliment Charles speed/outside game.We tried Peyton Hillis but did not work.We feel like Charles, Bell, Draughn & Gray gives us a nice group of RB's for the future."